The New Adventures of Ellery Queen

187 Pages·2010·0.92 MB·English

by  Queen Ellery

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF ELLERY QUEEN
New Adventures
The Treasure Hunt
The Hollow Dragon
The House of Darkness
The Bleeding Portrait
A Unique Group of Ellery Queen
Sports Mysteries
Man Bites Dog
Long Shot
Mind Over Matter
Trojan Horse
The Adventure of
THE TREASURE HUNT
“Dismount!” roared Major-General Barrett gaily, scrambling off his horse.
“How's that for exercise before breakfast, Mr. Queen?”
“Oh, lovely,” said Ellery, landing on terra firma somehow. The big bay tossed
his head, visibly relieved. “I'm afraid my cavalry muscles are a little atrophied,
General. We've been riding since six-thirty, remember.” He limped to the cliff's
edge and rested his racked body against the low stone parapet.
Harkness uncoiled himself from the roan and said: “You lead a life of armchair
adventure, Queen? It must be embarrassing when you poke your nose out into
the world of men.” He laughed. Ellery eyed the man's yellow mane and nervy
eyes with the unreasoning dislike of the chronic shut-in. That broad chest was
untroubled after the gallop.
“Embarrassing to the horse,” said Ellery. “Beautiful view, General. You couldn't
have selected this site blindly. Must be a streak of poetry in your make-up.”
“Poetry your foot, Mr. Queen! I'm a military man.” The old gentleman waddled
to Ellery's side and gazed down over the Hudson River, a blue-glass reflector
under the young sun. The cliff was sheer; it fell cleanly to a splinter of beach far
below, where Major-General Barrett had his boathouse. A zigzag of steep stone
steps in the face of the cliff was the only means of descent.
An old man was seated on the edge of a little jetty below, fishing. He glanced
up, and to Ellery's astonishment sprang to his feet and snapped his free hand up
in a stiff salute. Then he very placidly sat down and resumed his fishing.
“Braun,” said the General, beaming. “Old pensioner of mine. Served under me in
Mexico. He and Magruder, the old chap at the caretaker's cottage. You see?
Discipline, that's it. . . . Poetry?” He snorted. “Not for me, Mr. Queen. I like this
ledge for its military value. Commands the river. Miniature West Point, b'gad!”
Ellery turned and looked upward. The shelf of rock on which the General had
built his home was surrounded on its other three sides by precipitous cliffs, quite
unscalable, which towered so high that their crests were swimming in mist. A
steep road had been blasted in the living rock of he rearmost cliff; it spiralled
down from the top of the mountain, and Ellery still remembered with vertigo the
automobile descent the evening before.
“You command the river,” he said dryly, “but an enemy could shoot the hell out
of you by commanding that road up there. Or are my tactics infantile?”
The old gentleman spluttered: “Why, I could hold that gateway to the road
against an army, man!”
“And the artillery,” murmured Ellery. “Heavens, General, you are prepared.” He
glanced with amusement at a small sleek cannon beside the nearby flagpole, its
muzzle gaping over the parapet.
“General's getting ready for the revolution,” said Harkness with a lazy laugh.
“We live in parlous times.”
“You sportsmen,” snapped the general, “have no respect whatever for tradition.
You know very well this is a sunset gun—you don't sneer at the one of the Point,
do you? That's the only way Old Glory,” he concluded in a parade-ground voice,
“will ever come down on my property, Harkness—to the boom of a cannon
salute!”
“I suppose,” smiled the big-game hunter, “my elephant-gun wouldn't serve the
same purpose? On safari I—”
“Ignore the fellow, Mr. Queen,” said the General testily. “We just tolerate him
on these weekends because he's a friend of Lieutenant Fiske's. . . . Too bad you
arrived too late last night to see the ceremony. Quite stirring! You'll see it again
at sunset today. Must keep up the old traditions. Part of my life, Mr. Queen. . . . I
guess I'm an old fool.”
“Oh, indeed not,” said Ellery hastily. “Traditions are the backbone of the nation;
anybody knows that.” Harkness chuckled, and the General looked pleased.
Ellery knew the type—retired army man, too old for service, pining for the
military life. From what Dick Fiske, the General's prospective son-in-law, had
told him on the way down the night before, Barrett had been a passionate and
single-tracked soldier; and he had taken over with him into civilian life as many
mementos of the good old martial days as he could carry. Even his servants were
old soldiers; and the house, which bristled with relics of three wars, was run like
a regimental barracks.
A groom led their horses away, and they strolled back across the rolling lawns
toward the house. Major-General Barrett, Ellery was thinking, must be crawling
with money; he had already seen enough to convince him of that. There was a
tiled swimming-pool outdoors; a magnificent solarium; a target-range; a gun-
room with a variety of weapons that . . .
“General,” said an agitated voice; and he looked up to see Lieutenant Fiske, his
uniform unusually disordered, running toward them. “May I see you a moment
alone, sir?”
“Of course, Richard. Excuse me, gentlemen?”
Harkness and Ellery hung back. The Lieutenant said something, his arms jerking
nervously; and the old gentleman paled. Then, without another word, both men
broke into a run, the General waddling like a startled grandfather gander toward
the house.
“I wonder what's eating Dick,” said Harkness, as he and Ellery followed more
decorously.
“Leonie,” ventured Ellery. “I've known Fiske for a long time. That ravishing
daughter of the regiment is the only unsettling influence the boy's ever
encountered. I hope there's nothing wrong.”
“Pity if there is,” shrugged the big man. “It promised to be a restful weekend. I
had my fill of excitement on my last expedition.”
“Ran into trouble?”
“My boys deserted, and a flood on the Niger did the rest. Lost everything. Lucky
to have escaped with my life. . . . Ah, there, Mrs. Nixon. Is anything wrong with
Miss Barrett?”
A tall pal woman with red hair and amber eyes looked up from the magazine she
was reading. “Leonie? I haven't seen her this morning. Why?” She seemed not
too interested. “Oh, Mr. Queen! That dreadful game we played last night kept
me awake half the night. How can you sleep with all those murdered people
haunting you?”
“My difficulty,” grinned Ellery, “is not in sleeping too little, Mrs. Nixon, but in
sleeping too much. The original sluggard. No more imagination than an amoeba.
Nightmare? You must have something on your conscience.”
“But was it necessary to take our fingerprints, Mr. Queen? I mean, a game's a
game. . . .”
Ellery chuckled. “I promise to destroy my impromptu little Bureau of
Identification at the very first opportunity. No thanks, Harkness; don't care for
any this early in the day.”
“Queen,” said Lieutenant Fiske from the doorway. His brown cheeks were
muddy and mottled, and he held himself very stiffly. “Would you mind—?”
“What's wrong, Lieutenant?” demanded Harkness.
“Has something happened to Leonie?” asked Mrs. Nixon.
“Wrong? Why, nothing at all.” The young officer smiled, took Ellery's arm, and
steered him to the stairs. He was smiling no longer. “Something rotten's
happened, Queen. We're—we don't quite know what to do. Lucky you're here.
You might know. . . .”
“Now, now,” said Ellery gently. “What's happened?”
“You remember that rope of pearls Leonie wore last night?”
“Oh,” said Ellery.
“It was my engagement gift to her. Belonged to my mother.” The Lieutenant bit
his lip. “I'm not—well, a lieutenant in the United States Army can't buy pearls
on his salary. I wanted to give Leonie something—expensive. Foolish of me, I
suppose. Anyway, I treasure mother's pearls for sentimental reasons, too, and—”
“You're trying to tell me,” said Ellery as they reached the head of the stairs, “that
the pearls are gone.”
“Damn it, yes!”
“How much are they worth?”
“Twenty-five thousand dollars. My father was wealthy—once.”
Ellery sighed. In the workshop of the cosmos it had been decreed that he should
stalk with open eyes among the lame, the halt, and the blind. He lit a cigaret and
followed the officer into Leonie Barrett's bedroom.
There was nothing martial in Major -General Barrett's bearing now; he was
simply a fat old man with sagging shoulders. As for Leonie, she had been crying;
and Ellery thought irrelevantly that she had used the hem of her peignoir to
stanch her tears. But there was also a set to her chin and a gleam in her eye;
and she pounced upon Ellery so quickly that he almost threw his arm up to
defend himself.
“Someone's stolen my necklace,” she said fiercely. “Mr. Queen, you must get it
back. You must, do you hear?”
“Leonie, my dear,” began the General in a feeble voice.
“No, father! I don't care who's going to be hurt. That—that rope of pearls meant
a lot to Dick, and it means a lot to me, and I don't propose to sit by and let some
thief snatch it right form under my nose!”
“But darling,” said the Lieutenant miserably. “After all, your guests . . .”
“Hang my guests, and yours, too,” said the young woman with a toss of her
head. “I don't think there's anything in Mrs. Post's book which says a thief
gathers immunity simply because he's present on an invitation.”
“But it's certainly more reasonable to suspect that one of the servants—”
The General's head came up like a shot. “My dear Richard,” he snorted, “put that
notion out of your head. There isn't a man in my employ who hasn't been with
me for at least twenty years. I'd trust any one of 'em with anything I have. I've
had proof of their honesty and loyalty a hundred times.”
“Since I'm one of the guests,” said Ellery cheerfully, “I think I'm qualified to
pass an opinion. Murder will out, but it was never hindered by a bit of judicious
investigation, Lieutenant. Your fiancee's quite right. When did you discover the
theft, Miss Barrett?”
“A half-hour ago, when I awoke.” Leonie pointed to the dressing-table beside
her four-posted bed. “Even before I rubbed the sleep out of my yes I saw that the
pearls were gone. Because the lid of my jewel-box was up, as you see.”
“And the box was closed when you retired last night?”
“Better than that. I awoke at six this morning feeling thirsty. I got out of bed for
a glass of water, and I distinctly remember that the box was closed at that time.
Then I went back to sleep.”
Ellery strolled over and glanced down at the box. Then he blew smoke and said:
“Happy chance. It's a little after eight now. You discovered the theft, then, at a
quarter of eight or so. Therefore the pearls were stolen between six an seven-
forty-five. Didn't you hear anything, Miss Barrett?”
Leonie smiled ruefully. “I'm a disgustingly sound sleeper, Mr. Queen. That's
something you'll learn, Dick. And then for years I've suspected that I snore, but
nobody ever—”
The Lieutenant blushed. The General said: “Leonie,” not very convincingly, and
Leonie made a face and began to weep again, this time on the Lieutenant's
shoulder.
“What the deuce are we to do?” snarled the General. “We can't—well, hang it
all, you just can't search people. Nasty business! If the pearls weren't so
valuable I'd say forget the whole ruddy thing.”
“A body search is scarcely necessary, General,” said Ellery. “No thief would be
so stupid as to carry the loot about on his person. He'd expect the police to be
called; and the police, at least, are notoriously callous to the social niceties.”
“Police,” said Leonie in a damp voice, raisin her head. “Oh, goodness. Can't we
—”
“I think,” said Ellery, “we can struggle along without them for the proverbial
nonce. On the other hand, a search of the premises. . . . Any objection to my
prowling about?”
“None whatever,” snapped Leonie. “Mr. Queen, you prowl!”
“I believe I shall. By the way, who besides the four of us—and the thief— knows
about this?”
“Not another soul.”
“Very good. Now, discretion is our shibboleth today. Please pretend nothing's
happened. The thief will know we're acting, but he'll be constrained to act, too,
and perhaps . . .” He smoked thoughtfully. “Suppose you dress and join your
guests downstairs, Miss Barrett. Come, come, get that Wimpole Street
expression off your face, my dear!”
“Yes, sir,” said Leonie, trying out a smile.
“You gentlemen might co-operate. Keep everyone away from this floor while I
go into my prowling act. I shouldn't like to have Mrs. Nixon, for example, catch
me red-handed among her brassieres.”
“Oh,” said Leonie suddenly. And she stopped smiling.
“What's the matter?” asked the Lieutenant in an anxious voice.
“Well, Dorothy Nixon is up against it. Horribly short of funds. No, that's a—a
rotten thing to say.” Leonie flushed. “Goodness, I'm half-naked! Now, please,
clear out.”
“Nothing,” said in an undertone to Lieutenant Fiske after breakfast. “It isn't
anywhere in the house.”
“Damnation,” said the officer. “You're positive?”
“Quite. I've been through all the rooms. Kitchen. Solarium. Pantry. Armory. I've
even visited the General's cellar.”
Fiske gnawed his lower lip. Leonie called gaily: “Dorothy and Mr. Harkness and
I are going into the pool for a plunge. Dick! Coming?”
“Please go,” said Ellery softly; and he added: “And while you're plunging,
Lieutenant, search that pool.”
Fiske looked startled. Then he nodded rather grimly and followed the others.
“Nothing, eh?” said the General glumly. “I saw you talking to Richard.”
“Not yet.” Ellery glanced from the house, into which the others had gone to
change into bathing costume, to the riverside. “Suppose we stroll down there,
General. I want to ask your man Braun some questions.”
They made their way cautiously down the stone steps in the cliff to the sliver of
beach below, and found he old pensioner placidly engaged in polishing the
brasswork of the General's launch.
“Mornin', sir,” said Braun, snapping to attention.
“At ease,” said the General moodily. “Braun, this gentleman wants to ask you
some questions.”
“Very simple ones,” smiled Ellery. “I saw you fishing, Braun, at about eight this
morning. How long had you been sitting on the jetty?”
“Well, sir,” replied the old man, scratching his left arm, “on and off since ha'-
past five. Bitin' early, they are. Got a fine mess.”
“Did you have the stairs there in view all the time?”
“Sure thing, sir.”
“Has anyone come down this morning?” Braun shook his gray thatch. “Has
anyone approached from the river?”
“Not a one, sir.”
“Did anyone drop or throw anything down here or into the water from the cliff
up there?”
“If they'd had, I'd 'a' heard the splash, sir. No, sir.”
“Thank you. Oh, by the way, Braun, you're here all day?”
“Well, only till early afternoon, unless someone's usin' the launch, sir.”
“Keep your eyes open, then. General Barrett is especially anxious to know if
anyone comes down this afternoon. If someone does, watch closely and report.”
“General's orders, sir?” asked Braun, cocking a shrewd eye.
“That's right, Braun,” sighed the General. “Dismissed.”
“And now,” said Ellery, as they climbed to the top of the cliff, “let's see what
friend Magruder has to say.”
Magruder was a gigantic old Irishman with leathery cheeks and the eyes of a
top-sergeant. He occupied a rambling little cottage at the only gateway to the
estate.
“No, sir,” he said emphatically, “ain't been a soul near here all mornin'. Nob'dy,
in or out.”
“But how an you be sure, Magruder?”